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Jillian Joy's avatar

I found this lovely recipe just now and had to share 😊😘

https://sabrinacurrie.com/lavender-earl-grey-cake/

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

Beautiful and powerful experience Jillian. Your poem is a wonderful tribute.

Sorry to miss yesterday and I am glad to be here today. Today I am trying the Haiku. I haven't done this yet and lavender seems like the perfect topic, so here we go.

.

Blue-violet spikes

sweet flowers liberating

aromas to bees

.

Drunk pollinators

fluttering wings carrying them

to honey nectars

.

Lavender delights

windblown fragrances meeting

my welcoming nose

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

Also to comment. I have a bunch of lavender in my garden. And I am continually captivated by the bees, they love it there.

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

I love "drunk pollinators" - I also love watching the bees. 💕

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

This is terrific Julie! "Drunk Pollinators", oh that is so right on. I like how the three haiku move from one visual image to the scent of aromas finding you on the wind.

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Steven Barbery's avatar

Lavender

a flower

a scent

a color

soothing in all regards

like a gentle hug

embracing me

softly

cuddle

for a brief rest

cradling

gently

let me shut

my eyes

you're still there

comforting

as I drift

asleep

you linger

in my dreams

offering yourself

as background

I awake to

you

once more

welcoming me

back

to a world

asunder

I dread

leaving you

but you

encourage me

to return again

to find rest

to be

refreshed

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

This is splendid, Steven. I like the way you lift up the many joys of lavender, and the way you create a place in consciousness for this marvelous creation. These lines are quite nice:

"as I drift asleep you linger in my dreams offering yourself as background I awake to you once more welcoming me..." Lavender lives in your poem!

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Steven Barbery's avatar

Thank you, Larry. That is quite a compliment.

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

Totally feel the delights of lavender here. It is everything you say it is!

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Astrid's avatar

Were it not that I had bad dreams

I would,

I would lie

Down next to you, I would

Close my eyes,

I would listen to your breathing and forget;

Don’t be sad, my love, at least not yet.

Were it not that I had bad dreams,

I would sleep easy,

And I would hear the warnings,

And forget you in the morning.

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

This is a very sweet and beautiful poem. I like the breadth of its story, and the integration of dream world with the waking time. It is gentle in its arc of wondering and journey.

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Chuck's avatar

"dear lover,

dear friend.

you are a whole orchard.

body and soul.

ripe.

apricots & pears.

nut trees & cinnamon,

and all scented wood.

mint & lavender,

and all herbs aromatic.

You are paradise."

A refresh on

our song of songs lovers

reveals

the flame still burning

lusty hot.

Sexy pomegranates.

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

This is nice, Chuck. I like the reference to Song of Songs and the incorporation of nature into your poem.

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Chuck's avatar

It's mostly right out of the message chapter 4

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

I just want to be with Lavendar today! Thank you Jillian!

Lavender

I want to run through

fields of lavender

with you.

Arousing our senses,

aroma of paradise,

glowing within.

healing super herb,

protective shield,

calming our minds,

relaxing our tight bodies,

soothing the toughened

skins of wind and sun.

Let’s roll

in the fragrance of love;

sleep peacefully,

eyes closed,

hearts wide open.

Embracing the world

around us.

In Lavender

we dream.

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

Beautiful flow. I love the ending, "eyes closed, hearts wide open. Embracing the world around us. In Lavender we dream." I can smell the lavender...

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

Thank you Julie. This one came quickly between things. I love Lavender. including the very notion of it! I did some reading on the various benefits of lavender, and I thought, we should,all have it in abundance!

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

I agree!

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

"eyes closed, hearts wide open" ❤️

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

A stream of sunlight shines

across a chestnut cabinet

with bits of lavender tucked

into window panes,

in various states of drying.

An open door invites

a gentle breeze, carrying

with it the scent of grass,

and the sound of birds

and children playing.

I sip my coffee, and bask

in the contentment of

this simple Sunday,

not needing to be

anywhere -

or anyone -

else.

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

What delicious calm. Funny because I have lavender all over the house, just as you said, in various states of drying.

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

I love that!

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

What a beautiful poem, A. I could picture it all and felt right there with your evocative words. You have done the wonderful herb Lavender real justice here. Reading your poems is one of the highlights of my day!

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

Thank you, Larry! Lavender always reminds me of my maternal aunt (a second mom, really), and turning one of my favourite moments with her into a poem just felt right today.

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

My maternal aunt was a second mom to me too. Loved her immensely. In some ways I was closer to her than my mom. She passed a couple of years back, my mom before that. I tear up the most around my aunt, feeling that right now. Beautiful poem A., for your aunt!

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

Thank you for sharing, Julie! I'm grateful mine are still with us for now, and this has reminded me how much I've been missing our visits. I really need to get in touch. ❤️

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Larry Brickner-Wood's avatar

That connections shines through in the poem. The beauty of your relationship with your second mom and the beauty of lavander have a wonderful synergy.

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Jun 14, 2023
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Jun 14, 2023Edited
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Chuck's avatar

Thank you I think I posted in the wrong place, try again.

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A. Wilder Westgate's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful experience and the link for more information with us today, Jillian! This experience has had me thinking so much about community, and about finding more ways to connect more deeply with the people near me, as well as the land around me.

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